iimpundulu zonke ziyandilandela

The BMW Atrium stands at the heart of the museum. It provides Zeitz MOCAA with the ability to commission and exhibit monumental interventions on a scale never before seen in a public museum in Africa.

Nicholas Hlobo’s, iimpundulu zonke ziyandilandela, inaugurates the space. This seminal object, originally created for the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), combines rubber inner tubing, multicoloured ribbons, an animal skull, and pink theatre lights. As light streams in from the glass topped atrium, this massive bird hovers over us. Hlobo seduces us with the haunting lullaby he has created for this piece.

As oral histories inevitably disappear, Hlobo represents the Xhosa myth of the Lightning Bird or the witch’s servant, manifesting itself as a bird or an attractive man. Hlobo, however, morphs the myth to particular personal concerns taking into account taboos associated with masculinity and violence.

The generosity of Hlobo’s practice allows us to enter a fantastical world not normally accessible to us.